SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Executive Summary

A. Does this action apply to me?

This action is directed to the public in general and may be of interest to a wide range of stakeholders including environmental, human health, and agricultural advocates; the chemical industry; pesticide users; and members of the public interested in the sale, distribution, or use of pesticides. Since others also may be interested, the Agency has not attempted to describe all the specific entities that may be affected by this action.

B. What is EPA's authority for taking this action?

FIFRA section 6(f)(1) (7 U.S.C. 136d(f)(1)) provides that a registrant of a pesticide product may at any time request that any of its pesticide registrations be canceled or amended to terminate one or more uses. FIFRA further provides that, before acting on the request, EPA must publish a notice of receipt of any such request in the Federal Register . Thereafter, following the public comment period, the EPA Administrator may approve such a request.

FIFRA section 4(i)(5) (7 U.S.C. 136a-1(i)(5)) requires that all pesticide registrants pay an annual registration maintenance fee, due by January 15 of each year, to keep their registrations in effect. This requirement applies to all registrations granted under FIFRA section 3 (7 U.S.C. 136a) as well as those granted under FIFRA section 24(c) (7 U.S.C. 136v(c)) to meet special local needs. Registrations for which the fee is not paid are subject to cancellation by order and without a hearing. Under FIFRA, the EPA Administrator may reduce or waive maintenance fees for minor agricultural use pesticides when it is determined that the fee would be likely to cause significant impact on the availability of the pesticide for the use.

C. What action is the Agency taking?

This cancellation order follows a notice of receipt and opportunity for ( printed page 2685) public comment on the requests from the registrants listed to voluntarily cancel their product registrations. See 89 FR 91382, November 19, 2024 (FRL-12286-01-OCSPP). In that document, EPA also provided a notice of intent to cancel certain other product registrations for non-payment of the 2024 pesticide registration maintenance fees. Since registrations for which the fee is not paid are subject to cancellation by order and without a hearing, EPA did not seek public comment for the cancellation of the products listed.

In that document, EPA indicated that it would issue an order implementing the cancellations, unless the Agency received substantive comments within the 30-day comment period that would merit its further review of these requests, or unless the registrants withdrew their requests. The Agency received comments or withdrawals by the end of the comment period from companies listed in tables 3 and 4 only. Accordingly, EPA hereby issues this cancellation order granting the requested cancellations. Any distribution, sale, or use of the products subject to this cancellation order is permitted only in accordance with the terms of this order, including any existing stocks provisions.

II. Cancellation Order

Pursuant to FIFRA section 6(f) (7 U.S.C. 136d(f)), EPA hereby approves the requested cancellations and orders that the product registrations identified in table 1 of this unit are canceled. The effective date of the cancellations that are the subject of this order is January 13, 2025. Any distribution, sale, or use of existing stocks of the products identified in table 1 and table 3 of this unit in a manner inconsistent with any of the provisions for disposition of existing stocks set forth in unit VII. will be a violation of FIFRA.

Table 1 of this unit lists the product cancellations, as requested by registrants, in sequence by registration number (or company number and FIFRA section 24(c) number).

Table 2 of this unit includes the names and addresses of record for all registrants of the products in table 1 of this unit, in sequence by EPA company number. This number corresponds to the first part of the EPA registration numbers of the products listed in table 1 of this unit.

Table 3 of this unit lists all the FIFRA sections 3 and 24(c) registrations that were canceled for non-payment of the 2024 maintenance fee. These registrations are canceled by this order effective January 13, 2025 and without a hearing. ( printed page 2687)

Table 4 of this unit includes the names and addresses of record for all registrants of the products in table 3, in sequence by EPA company number. This number corresponds to the first part of the EPA registration numbers of the products listed in this unit.

III. Summary of Public Comments Received and Agency Response to Comments

As indicated in unit I.C., EPA did receive comments in response to the notice of receipt that published in the Federal Register of November 19, 2024. EPA received comments to withdraw requests and payments for several companies in tables 3 and 4. Subsequently, those products have been removed from tables 3 and company name and address from table 4.

IV. Provisions for Disposition of Existing Stocks

Existing stocks are those stocks of registered pesticide products which are currently in the United States, and which were packaged, labeled, and released for shipment prior to the effective date of the cancellation action. The existing stocks provisions for the products subject to this order are as follows.

The registrants listed in table 2 of unit II. may continue to sell and distribute existing stocks of products listed in table 1 of unit II. until January 13, 2025. Thereafter, the registrants are prohibited from selling or distributing products listed in table 1 of unit II., except for export in accordance with FIFRA section 17 (7 U.S.C. 136o), or proper disposal. Persons other than the registrants listed in table 2 of unit II. may sell, distribute, or use existing stocks of products listed in table 1 of unit II. until existing stocks are exhausted, provided that such sale, distribution, or use is consistent with the terms of the previously approved labeling on, or that accompanied, the canceled products.

The registrants listed in table 4 of unit II. may continue to sell and distribute products listed in table 3 of unit II. until January 16, 2025. Under EPA's existing stocks policy, if a registrant fails to pay the appropriate maintenance fee and the product subject to that fee is later canceled, the registrant will generally not be allowed to sell or distribute existing stocks of the cancelled product more than 1 year after the date the maintenance fee was due. Here, registrants of products listed in table 3 of unit II. were required to submit maintenance fees by January 16, 2024. Persons other than registrants listed in table 4 of unit II. may sell, distribute, or use existing stocks of products listed in table 3 of unit II. until existing stocks are exhausted, provided that such sale, distribution, or use is consistent with the terms of the previously approved labeling on, or that accompanied, the canceled products.

Authority:7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.

90 FR 2684